The Vegas Golden Knights won their fourth straight game and eliminated the Colorado Avalanche in six games with a 6-3 win Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena to advance to the third round.
Following the gutsy comeback in the second-round series against Colorado, the Golden Knights will host the Montreal Canadians in the Stanley Cup semifinals.
The winner of the series will be awarded the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, the trophy traditionally awarded to the victor of the Western Conference Final.
The other semifinal matchup features the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders.
Montreal eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games and the Winnipeg Jets in four in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The narratives will write themselves in this matchup following the blockbuster trade completed between these teams back in 2018.
The Knights acquired Max Pacioretty in exchange for Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki — who had yet to play a game for the Golden Knights — and a second-round pick.
Pacioretty led Vegas in scoring this season with 24 goals and has a point in all seven games he’s played in the postseason.
Tatar had 10 goals and 30 points in 50 games this season, good for fourth on the Habs in scoring, but he has just one assist in only five playoff games after being scratched.
Suzuki, Vegas’ former first-round draft pick, is a star in the making. He scored 15 goals and 41 points (third on the team) in 56 games in the regular season and has eight points in 11 playoff games this year. He had a standout performance in the bubble last year with seven points in 10 games as the Canadiens eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins in the play-in round before falling to Philadelphia in six games.
The Vegas-Montreal series will begin on Monday night at 6 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena; Vegas will have home-ice advantage for the rest of the playoffs.
This will be the first time the Golden Knights face a team outside of the West Division this year. The Knights have an all-time record of 1-2-3 against Montreal.
Vegas opened as very heavy favorites to win the series at -450.
Series schedule
- Game 1 — Monday, June 14 at 6 p.m. — MTL at VGK
- Game 2 — Wednesday, June 16 at 6 p.m. — MTL @ VGK
- Game 3 — Friday, June 18 at 5 p.m. — VGK @ MTL
- Game 4 — Sunday, June 20 at 5 p.m. — VGK @ MTL
- Game 5 (if necessary) — Tuesday, June 22 at 6 p.m. — MTL @ VGK
- Game 6 (if necessary) — Thursday, June 24 at 5 p.m. — VGK @ MTL
- Game 7 (if necessary) — Saturday, June 26 at 5 p.m. — MTL @ VGK/